Shadow Realm
by Azhdarcho
Summary: One-shot. Yami Marik and Yami no Bakura cross paths after Yami Marik is defeated.


**Shadow Realm**

Yami Marik awoke and tried to orient himself to the place he had been relocated to. It was dark here. Soft, comforting darkness. He felt shadows curling around his body, snaking around his fingers and toes, licking at his ears. They brushed softly against his arms and caressed his cheeks. The darkness cooed to him, thanking him for contributing to it, for feeding it, for strengthening it. It was beautiful. To stay here after such a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Pharaoh would not be a bad consolation prize.

Before he had the chance to enjoy himself more, an amused voice cut through the air, silencing the shadows. "What took you so long?"

Yami Marik whipped around, angrily trying to pinpoint the source of the disruption, but he could see no one. The voice laughed. It rang out through the space, echoed by the wisps of shadow that continued to encircle him as they shivered happily in anticipation. "Who's there? Show yourself!" said Yami Marik, pacing around. _He_ controlled the darkness; no one could use it to hide from him. He clenched his fists and growled, unhappy that the shadows were disobeying him.

Instead of an answer, the voice condensed down to a single point, and a figure stepped out, still chuckling in cruel mirth at Yami Marik's fury. "You!" said Yami Marik.

"Me," said Yami no Bakura, crossing his arms.

Yami Marik made a disdainful noise in the back of his throat. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see you, since I sent you here myself."

"No, I guess you shouldn't. Nor am I surprised to see you. Let me guess. With the help of his family, and possibly the pharaoh himself, your main character managed to summon the strength to usurp your control and use your own Shadow game against you."

Yami Marik narrowed his eyes, unhappy that his defeat had been so see-through.

"I suspected as much; it's a familiar story. Hosts can be pests if they are not... controlled properly," said Yami no Bakura, gently nudging the identical boy who lay unconscious at his feet.

"Smothering him should have been enough."

"Oh goodness, no, there's much more to it than that. Did you isolate him? Did he trust you? If you had done that, I wouldn't have been able to predict how this would all turn out. But why am I telling you this now? Nothing can help you here."

A new voice made its way through the darkness. "Bakura Ryo! Kujaku Mai! I release you!"

Yami no Bakura smiled and held his hand up to his ear in a mockery of listening. "Hear that? That's the sound of your other half freeing me from this prison. It's a shame that he won't be doing the same for you."

"You say that as if I would want to leave," Yami Marik replied coolly. He would not willingly become subordinate to his weaker self, not after being here. Yami no Bakura simply chuckled as he stooped to pick up his unconscious host. Yami Marik's upper lip twitched into a sneer at the nonchalant response.

"There's a misconception you seem to have, and I would like to put it out of your head before I leave," said Yami no Bakura, shifting the boy's weight on his shoulder. He walked up to Yami Marik and took his chin in his pale fingers. Yami Marik gasped and struggled to pull away from the unwanted contact, but the wisps of shadow that had been caressing his limbs suddenly tightened into bindings, holding him in place. Tendrils of darkness started to creep like vines across his skin from the points where Yami no Bakura fingers touched him. They no longer caressed him; they burned like acid. He jerked his head, eyes wide, trying to establish some sort of height advantage on the boy who had gone from being a nuisance to being a captor.

Yami no Bakura's smirk widened at Yami Marik's discomfort. "There's a very simple rule in this place, and I hope you'll take it to heart," he said. Yami Marik was yanked down onto all fours and he writhed in frustration, furious at the shadows' betrayal. Yami no Bakura took a knee and leaned close to Yami Marik's ear.

"No one can tame the Darkness," he whispered.


End file.
